Multiple cylinder misfires! (Random)

[AndrewB648]

i drive a 2001 vw golf 2.0 and just recently whenever it is under just about any kind of acceleration it starts to jump back and forth until you let up on the gas. the codes are reading multiple cylinder misfires but not really giving me anything specific. its a pain in the *** to drive like it is and i just had to do a damn water pump and timing belt a few days ago! any ideas on my new problem? any help is greatly appreciated! I have replaced the fuel pump too! might help in the troubleshooting phase of things!

Thanks!
:beerchug:

[ian davies]

Did you find the cause of this problem - I have had similar problems after changing timing belt, MAF, spark plugs and leads - any info wpould be great.

Cheers:beerchug:

[v6dub]

I had the same kind of problem on v6 4motion only afew weeks ago, my engine started to judder and i had the emissions light come on, and that was when i put the engine under load same as you, i had it scaned and it turned out to have a misfire on cyl 5, had the faults cleared to see if they did return, which they did, i thought that it was the coil pack, but it turned out to be a broken HT lead, so i replaced that with a new spark plug, it has been fine since then. so you might what to give that a go. have you scaned it to see if it is the lambo sensors that could be causeing it to judder?

[ian davies]

Car is going in to VW specialists Monday - hoefully they can diagnose the problem using vag - com - any ideas on the bits in coolant? Stewy seems to think it may be the oil cooler?

[longboy]

Hello forumers, some assistance would be bob on if possible, i own a 2001 golf estate 2.0 litre and the engine/emissions light has come on again and seems to be firing on 3 cylinders. This has happened before with plug changes but still persists and its using (in my opinion) a lot of oil but vw garage says its normal?

[ian davies]

Vag com test came up with zippo - no faults so none the wiser on the misfire. With regard to the use of oil my 2.0 litre Gti seems to use a lot - its done it from new and a few people have said its the thin synthetic oil - suggesting that i use thicker grades. Not sure about this in case it damages anything but its a possibility.

[Crasher]

What is the year and engine code Ian?

[ian davies]

2000 Apk

[Crasher]

I would recommend changing the coil pack and leads, plus the plugs if they aren’t NGK as these engines hate anything other than NGK. When you change the leads, make careful notes of which lead goes to which point on the coil, i.e. 1 goes to A, 2 goes to C, 3 goes to B and 4 goes to C, for the 1, 3, 4, 2 firing order. Be vary wary of aftermarket coils in white boxes, the other week a fellow trader brought one of these in to me with a weird problem he could not solve. I looked at the coil pack and the leads looked stretched on one point and baggy on another, when I looked they were in the wrong order. I fitted them in the correct order and the engine locked up and would not run. I substituted another pack in the same order and it was fine, the aftermarket replacement was wired up incorrectly internally. That wasn't the main problem, the other was he had been supplied the wrong lambda sensor. Personally, I would start with the leads.

P.S. Our Blue Igniters fit very well, hint hint!

[ian davies]

Thanks Crasher - I have changed the leads - or rather the VW specialist did - the MAF, the plugs ( VAG items) , air filter, timing belt ( and water pump - the impeller was in bits- plastic rubbish) along with a full service etc. and the car just seems very subdued - not that the 2.0 Gti was ever a real fast hot hatch - more of a steady plodder - which was disappointing after waiting years to get one - managed to buy the slowest model ever built! Since the MAFchange the car has developed a strange noise when cold - a bit like someone playing the kazoo or comb and paper - is there a diaphragm or something in the air flow passageways that activates for cold running that could be making this noise or do you think that there is a vacumn leak that could be contributing to all this? Havent changed the coil pack yet - expensive?
Cheers

Ian

[Crasher]

The APK doesn’t have the variable length manifold of the later AZJ which has a habit of holing the diaphragm which makes a terrible noise but what you describe, together with the misfire sounds like an air leak but that would also give a lambda lean error. For a random multiple misfire without a lean code I would say coil pack based on what has been done.If you buy one, buy genuine at just under £82, I have seen some serous issues with pattern ones.